The present invention relates generally to a method for promptly providing complete and detailed medication information of a patient to the patient, the patient's loved ones, and/or or the patient's health care provider.
More particularly, this invention pertains to the generation of a medication profile report. The medication profile report provides detailed information regarding the characteristics of each drug used by the patient. The report also provides additional information regarding possible drug-drug interactions, possible duplicate drug therapies, possible side effects and information related to the overall medication therapy of the patient.
Currently, a health care provider relies upon the patient to provide complete and detailed information regarding the medications the patient is using. The medical condition of a patient may be compromised when inaccurate or incomplete medication information is provided. A health care provider must be made fully aware of all of the drugs a patient is using as well as of all of the possible problems associated with the interaction between the combination of all of these drugs in order to avoid harmful drug-drug interactions, duplicative medication therapy, or advise the patient of any detrimental effects of the medications currently being used.
Currently, a patient must independently identify a complete listing of the medication he or she is using. Generally, upon a visit to a health care provider, a patient must recite his or her medication history in a matter of minutes. Often, the patient may totally forget one, or several, of the medications he or she is taking. Further, for individuals with complex medication regimens, obtaining a complete and accurate list of medications from the patient may be impossible. While an individual professional will most likely have records of what he or she has prescribed for the patient, the professional, in almost all cases, will not have a complete profile on the patient unless they are confident that the patient provides them with a one hundred percent accurate review of all of the medications they are taking, including those prescribed by other professionals. Additionally, the professional has to rely upon the patient to tell them whether or not the patient is taking these drugs as they have been prescribed.
What is needed, then, is a medication profile report that is conveniently obtained by a patient or his or her provider. Such a medication profile report must be obtainable 24 hours a day and must reflect the current medication usage of the patient. This report, additionally, needs to include not only what the patient has told the health care provider that they are taking but it needs to include actual dispensing information so that the provider can have a reasonably high degree of confidence that the information contained in the medication profile is complete and up to date including information regarding dispensing and compliance data.